The Downfall of Jenova
by Kakashii Anbu
Summary: Post-apocalyptic world setting. AU. Sephiroth has established himself as the sole king left in Gaia after taking over Wutai and killing president Shinra. With the world left in disarray, there are still a number of people that have are willing to fight back. With the help of Cloud and his team, they still may have a chance to save Gaia from Jenova.


**_Inspired by many different aspects such as games, movies, tv shows, and anime of course. One special inspiration for my story in a sense was 'Coming Undone' by Valentine'sNinja_**

 ** _Disclaimer: FF7 is not mine, but I do wish I owned the series. Are disclaimers actually required? Hey, I'd rather be safe._**

* * *

This mission in particular was a simpler one. Get in, kill the target, grab any information you can, and get out. Using the dark as his shroud, Cloud from tree to trees into the enemy camp in silence with Zack alongside him. They were both draped in the _Soldier_ uniforms. The two were posted on a tree branch directly above their target's tent and planned their next sequence of events. Cloud being the better at stealth had to be the one to jump down and eliminate the target while Zack stayed behind on the tree and kept a look out for him.

"Target is confirmed in his tent. No guard inside or out, however he is relaying something on the radio. Waiting for him to talking and I'll go in and dispose of the target. Fenrir out." Cloud patiently waited his target to finish whatever he was talking about on the radio.

The breeze on his shoulders would have made any normal person shiver, but Cloud and Zack weren't your typical guys. They had both served in Sephiroth's special _Soldiers_ division of his army. Through numerous infusions of mako and having to train for years to become the perfect soldiers. The mako greatly increased their senses, they could see in the dark, they stronger and faster than most people, the body was always warm from the mako in their blood stream, and their eye colors were become a vivid color of violet, blue or black. Hell, they were the perfect humans or the closest thing to it. To many, being a _Soldier_ was the best thing in life, but not for Cloud or Zack. Those two fought for Sephiroth and regretted every second of it.

"Alright, it sounds like he's finished talking. I'm going silent and heading in. If anything happens, we'll meet at point B, but it won't come to it." Cloud whispered with a smirk as he pulled his earpiece and placed it in his chest pocket. "Radio in the airship, we will need to be out asap." Zack nodded and called in for airship to be at their rendezvous point.

"Wolf to Bronco, I repeat Wolf to Bronco, do you read? Fenrir is in position and going in. I will be watching from above and cover him. Be ready to evac us in five minutes." Bronco confirmed their evac and Zack gave Cloud the nod informing him that everything was ready.

Everything was set and Cloud was ready. He stood up straight and stretched his limbs. Quietly leaped onto the ground to the side of the tent, not being fazed at all by the overwhelming number of enemies all around him. He was trained to kill, and this mission wasn't anything different to him. He trekked through the dirt and into the tent and spotted his target sitting in a chair in front of the radio he must of being using earlier. He crouched his way behind him, pulling out his karambit knife at the same thing. Swiftly without any hesitation, he covered the target's mouth, drew his knife, and slit his jugular vein open. Blood splattered everywhere, but thankfully it didn't alert everyone. He pulled out a USB from his belt pouch and placed it into the laptop that was behind the target on a table. He quickly tapped keys into laptop and did what he needed to do to download whatever he could. After he was finished, he grabbed the USB from the laptop and brought his earpiece back to it's rightful spot in his ear. Cloud called in and confirmed that the target is dead, and that he sucessfully downloaded everything from the target's laptop. Zack told him the airship was already here and that he was still waiting on the tree keeping watch. Cloud slowly traced his way back to the hiding spot, but stopped near the tent flap when he saw a chest full of weapons and bombs. Instinctively, he grabbed whatever he could and placed them in a backpack near the table before putting it on his back and going to Zack.

The two met up and quickly made their way to the extraction point. The airship was already there waiting. They got in safely and met up with the rest of the team in the meeting room. The team was composed of Zack, Vincent, Cid, Barrett, and Cloud. They were a mercenary team that came together after the fall of Wutai at the start of the great war. The team started out as just Cloud and Zack taking in any jobs against Jenova. Over time, Barrett and Cid joined after the fall of Wutai, and soon after Vincent joined them around the same time.

Barrett was an ex commander for Wutai and was one of the many reasons they held out for as long as they did. He was born in North Corel, but left for Wutai when Sephiroth took over as King of Jenova. When he arrived in Wutai, he immediately joined the army as a grunt and never looked back since. He quickly rose in rank when the war started due to his strong leadership, he caught the eye of the king. By the middle of the war, he was already assigned as the commander of the army. He did a great job holding back Jenova with Guerrilla tactics, but with what little warriors Wutai had left after the initial invasion. They had no chance in stopped Sephiroth. During the war, Barrett was in a trench when a grenade was thrown next to him. While trying to save those around him, he jumped on the grenade and took the full force of the grenade. He made it out alive, but lost an arm in the process. Unlike most people who would get a prosthetic arm, thanks to Cid's ingenuity, Barrett ended up having a chain gun for an arm. In the squad he acted as a support for Cloud and Zack alongside Vincent since they both used guns... Well Vincent used guns, Barrett was just literally armed and ready. Since he was once a leader before, everyone choose him as the team leader in a sense, but Cloud was still their captain.

Cid served in the army with Barrett and was his right hand man. He was from Rocket town, but went to Wutai to study engineering and that's where he met Barrett. In Wutai, Cid help developed blueprints for most of their weapons and machines. Like Barrett, he too was a grunt in the army at first, but became well renown for his intelligence. This reason was why Barrett took him as his right hand man when he became commander. He helped Barrett as his tactician and was another reason Wutai lasted longer than they had any reason too. Cid was known for his _colorful_ vocabulary. He could shame a sailor in a curse out and because of him, Barrett also had a foul mouth too. He had a big temper and was easily agitated, but he calmed down whenever he had his tea, he was at peace. His job on the team was to build whatever they needed, maintain it, work the technology and help plan out their operations. He was also their pilot on the side.

Vincent used to serve Shinra as a Turk before they too fell to Sephiroth. The Turks served under president John Shinra as his personal secret service and central intelligence group. They did everything from assassinations to spying on other countries. Vincent worked as a Turk for half his life and was damn good at it. He was a sharpshooter with any guns and could handle himself in a hand-to-hand fight against most _Soldier._ After the fall of Shinra, the country was left under the control of Jenova. Seeing as he had nothing left and the Turks were a past memory, he worked as a mercenary in Midgar and Junon until he met Cloud in an assassination mission. Apparently he and Cloud were after the same person and decided to work together. Cloud was impressed with his prowess in the field and he invited him to join them. Vincent took a liking to the idea of fighting Jenova so he accepted the offer and has done anything he could to destroy Jenova. He, along with Zack and Cloud were one of the main assault units of the group.

Zack and Cloud were both ex- _Solider_ from Jenova. Zack was born in Gongaga. He went to Midgar in search of an adventure and ended up in the army like everyone else. He met Cloud when they were both recruits in the army and did multiple missions with him. Zack was always outgoing and a lady's man while Cloud was the opposite. Cloud was this quiet and shy kid who looked up to Zack. He wasn't as good as Zack at making friends but that didn't matter, he had Zack as a friend and that was all he needed. When Zack tried out for the _Soldier_ division and passed, Cloud become motivated to try out too. He failed his first attempt, but with Zack's persistent encouragement and his will to get stronger, he finally passed. They went through three years of mako infusion and strict training, they became official members. They got passed the third class and second class ranks fast due to Zack and Cloud's success rate in their missions over the three years, they ended up as first class _Soldier._ This was Sephiroth's special squad for the truly gifted. They did all of his dirty work in the shadow. They were so secretive that they were only known as a myth. No one had seen any first class and those who did didn't live to tell the tale. In their time as first class, they started seeing that this wasn't what it was meant to be. Sephiroth started sending them to threaten nobles for gold and shutting down any protest against him. Zack didn't mind for awhile, but Cloud did. He wanted to be stronger, he wanted to be able to protect himself, but he didn't want to abuse others because he was. It wasn't until Jenova invaded Wutai did Zack finally cave into Cloud's plea of leaving the army together, but you couldn't just simply retire whenever you wanted too. When they were sent to find the hiding ex-commander of the Wutai army, with the help of Cid, they faked their deaths and remain in hiding ever since.

Together, these five people became known as the Inazuma _Strike Force... The ISF_

* * *

"The mission was a huge success, we gained important intel for the resistance, and assassinated an important figure in the Jenovan army. Not to mention, with the added weapons Cloud also managed to snag, it couldn't have ended up any better. Cid said we should reach Rocket Town by dawn, so go ahead and rest up, ya kids deserve it. Once again, great fuckin work. When we reach HQ, there should be someone there waiting for us to collect the USB. Make a copy of it before we give it to him. Dismissed," Barrett announced. Everyone left the room and went to do something. Cloud, as usual, immediately strolled to his room to relax by himself.

Morning came by and greeted Cloud with rays shining in his eyes. He tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't so he went to the cockpit and found Cid. Cid let him that they would be landing any minute now at their hideout. Feeling the need for some fresh air, he went out to the deck and basked in the early sun rays. Cloud leaned on the rails and enjoyed the cool air around him. He liked to come out and look at the surroundings near them whenever he was on the airship. Something about the never changing tree lines near their hideout brought what small comfort was left in the world to Cloud. His mother was gone, he never met his father, he had nothing left for him in this world except the next day. He stayed there thinking to himself until the ship lowered itself to the ground.

The ship landed in a small opening in the thick forest that laid around Rocket Town. The entrance to their hideout was hidden in the ground. There was a button that opened up the door and Cloud went to press it. The button was under a tree bark and the door was near it. He led the team down the stair and to the main room, but stopped them when he noticed that things were out of spot, as if there had been someone there already. He signaled with his hand for them to spread out and look around. Cid and Barrett checked one wing of the underground hideout while Vincent and Zack took another. Cloud went by himself to the kitchen and found his suspect. He lightly stepped behind her and pulled his blade to behind her neck.

"The hand cannot go through the heart without help," Cloud muttered to the person, the phrase was a safe code given to the resistance to prove their identity to the _ISF._

Slowly the girl turned around with a sandwich in her mouth and a smile. She was quite a beauty, she had to be. Cloud was mesmerized by her. Her eyes were wine red, almost comparable to the color of a ruby gemstone. Her hair was midnight black and contrasted perfectly with her marble white complexion. Her face was enough to make Cloud consider her as good looking, but with her body, Cloud thought she was a goddess in disguise. She was slim but still curvy in all the right places. She had long thick thighs that could make any man melt at the sight of them bare. She was wearing a black skin-tight jumpsuit that had stripes of orange on the thighs and it was leathery. Holstered on her hip was a pistol with a pair of gloves hanging near it. In her hand, she had the last bottle of Cloud's favorite drink that he had made and saved for when he came back from the mission. It was a special coffee made from a bean only found in Wutai, which was now rare due to no one being able to gather them.

"But with Raikiri, the hand could strike fast." Cloud lowered his weapon at hearing the proper response. "You must be Cloud Strife, it's great to finally meet you." She said while extending out a hand." I'm Tifa Lockhart, I was sent in by the resistance to retrieve the intel you gathered from your last operation."

Cloud grabbed her by the hands and started pulling her away to the main room while calling out for everyone simultaneously. While on the way, he asked her how she broke into their base and she told him.

She must have been highly trained if she was able to break into their base and by the way she said she got in, Cloud thought so. He gave her his respect for being able to find the entrance and button to open the door using her surroundings the way she did. Using the information given to her by her commander, she had a basic idea of where their base was, and was waiting for any signs of their arrival. After a few hours she got impatient and started looking around. Noticing patterns of the leaves on the ground and how they were gathered she found the only small area where the dirt was completely free of them. She knew their base was underground and thought she found the door, so she that there had to be something around that opened it. Tifa checked closely around all the trees within a small perimeter and she noticed that there was one tree bark that stuck out from the others. After fidgeting with her, she finally found the button and went in there. She had barely got in and found some food before they arrived.

 _'For a beautiful girl, she is quite the detective. She would make as a great member on this team.' Cloud laughed in his head._

Everyone ran to the living room of their base and was met with a very gorgeous girl standing super close to Cloud. Cloud let her introduce herself to everyone and told them that she was the person sent to get the USB.

While everyone else was listening to Tifa explain herself, Zack's attention was caught on one thing. How the hell did she get Cloud to not throw a fit over her being so close to him? Everyone knew Cloud loved his personal space and wasn't scared to exert force to keep others out of it.

"WAIT. Let me get this straight, you found the way into this place because you noticed that there was only a small area with no leaves? You have got to be shitting me, now I got to find a way to fucking get leaves to fall all around the place every goddamn time we open it. Thank's a fucking lot Lockhart. I'll fucking see you guys later!" Cid whined angrily while trotting to his engineering room. Before he got too far, he called out to Tifa," If you ever break in again, I will kill you Lockhart." He mumbled some things under his breath, but it was too quiet for anyone to hear.

The rest of the people in the room chuckled at Cid's comments, because they knew he wasn't serious. Cloud reached into his pocket and handed Tifa the USB that they copied all the information onto from the enemy base. With Cid gone, Vincent soon followed suit and went to his room to enjoy the short time of silence he could get before Zack got into the room and ruined it. Zack bombarded Tifa with a bunch of random questions such as where she's from, what training does she have, does she have a boyfriend and if she wants a boyfriend. Barrett was already tired of Zack's loud mouth so he went to join Cid and plan out their next mission.

Eventually the three that were left in the room sat down on the sofas and relaxed a little. Zack continued where he left out and started trying to get to know Tifa again.

"Soooo Tifa, what made you join the resistance. Being the beauty, you are, I woulda thought you were a princess or something. Where did you say you were from again?" Zack asked. He couldn't help but talk to such a good looking girl.

"That's a long story, I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear it, it's nothing special," Tifa played off, but continued after Zack's insistency." Let's see, where do I start? Well umm, I used to live in Nibelheim with my father and mother until she passed away when I was five. My father was serving in the army at the time, but retired shortly after my mother died to raise me. We took her body to my grandma and grandpa's house in Wutai to bury her in the family tombs and stayed there ever since, so my grandparents could help raise me. As I got older, my father began teaching me how to fight and use some weapons. I never thought I would make good use of what I learned but than Sephiroth invaded Wutai. I defended my village with my father and some of the other men as much as we could, but they didn't stop coming. We lasted a month before we finally got overwhelmed and they ended up burning the entire village down. THey executing everyone. My father died buying me time to escape and I ran until I made it to South Wutai. There I found refuge in this village called Oda and it just so happened to be the birth place of the resistance. The second I started hearing about them, I knew I had to find them. I investigated for awhile and finally found them. I joined their group and started operating in solo espionage missions in Jenova. Since I was a woman, it was easy for me to get information I wanted. Two years later, I ended up in this very spot with an ex-soldier sitting on the couch across from me and a handsome chocobo sitting right next to me."

Cloud felt his cheeks start burning up at her comment while Zack openly laughed.

 _'Oh, she thinks he's handsome huh? I never thought I would be glad to have roomed with Vincent. Oh this is going to be great'_ Zack started planning something devious.

Zack casually looked at his watch and yawned as loud as he could. "Hey Tifa, you know it's pretty late. You should probably wait until dawn before leaving to Wutai. We wouldn't want you to get caught because you couldn't see two feet in front of you now."

"I shouldn't, this place is already filled with five people here… Plus there's like no food in the fridge," Tifa laughed while sporting a dazzling smile.

Cloud scrunched his eyes and stared at Zack. _What are you getting at Zack, there no extra room for her… Wait a second._

"Actually, there is room here for you though. You see everyone in our team paired up as roomies since this place is like you said, 'filled to the brink'. Cid and Barrett took up one room, Vincent and I another. That leaves one room with only one occupant and you happen to be sitting right next to him." Zack now turned to Cloud with a mischievous look in his eyes. "I'm sure Cloud wouldn't mind you sleeping in his room now would you Cloud. Or are you going to make Tifa venture in the cold, dark, and dangerous forest we are in now just to get caught by Jenovan soldiers and possibly end up being tortured all night and killed because you wanted your own ro- " _Checkmate Cloud._

"Alright, she can stay. Just please stop talking and get as far away from me as you can," Cloud reluctantly said, sighing at the thought having to share his beloved room." Follow me Teef, I'll show you where you will be sleeping." He grabbed Tifa's hand once again and pulled her away leaving Zack all alone to laugh by himself at the success of his plan. For an agent that has done many missions, Tifa had very soft hands Cloud thought. He mentally slapped himself for thinking about the softness of her hands and blushing about it. Too far into his own thoughts he didn't notice Tifa's cheeks growing red themselves. She never had anyone hold her hands before like this.

They got to Cloud's room which was at the end of the wing. The room wasn't as big as Tifa thought it would be but it was fine. There was one small bed in the corner of the room across from the door. Next to it was a nightstand with a book and lamp on it. To the side of the nightstand there was a closet. The room was plain and boring but that's how Cloud liked it. There wasn't enough time in this world to get to relaxed and comfortable. You never knew when something could come up and bite you in the ass.

He went into his closet and pulled out a blanket and pillow and placed them on the floor. Tifa thought he was going to make her sleep on the ground and she didn't mind, nowadays a safe place to sleep was good enough for her. He went to the closet again and started undressing, not even bothering to care that Tifa was still in the room. She did turn around of course, but she didn't forget to sneak a look at him. Cloud was slim, but she could clearly see his chiseled muscles. Aside from the wonderful view she got of his body, she also saw all the scars that littered it too and grimaced at the sight of them. She had seen scars on people, but none were as bad as his.

Cloud cleared his throat after he finished changing to let Tifa know that he was done changing. When she turned around she was met with the sight of him laying down on the ground, wrapped in his blanket and reading the book from the nightstand.

"You can have the bed. The bathroom is straight across this room if you need to use it. The water boiler is messed up so the hot water runs out after about twenty minutes, but feel free to use it." Cloud didn't like sleeping on the floor, but he didn't feel right with making her sleep on the ground. He could survive her being there and taking his bed for one day.

Tifa didn't have any extra clothes to change to since she hadn't planned on staying and she wasn't going to sleep in her underwear next to someone she just met so she went to the bed in her jumpsuit and tried to relax as much as she could before she had to leave for the resistance tomorrow. The jumpsuit wasn't as uncomfortable as it looked thankfully. She peaked at Cloud from the bed and he had his back turned to her with the book still in his hand one last time before she fell into a deep slumber.

* * *

 ** _Opps, I'm terrible for starting another story, but oh whale \\(o.o)/. I do plan on getting to it and updating but this football game scene is killing me. Anywho, this story is going to be a 'feeling the water' story for me. Something I can use to practice writing and improving. As usual my PM are open to hate or loving messages, but I'd prefer the latter. Ideas or thoughts, the review section is always open.- Kakashi_**


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